Northwestern’s 166th commencement will take place at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, June 9 at the United Center in Chicago. The ceremony typically takes place at Ryan Field in Evanston, but had to be moved this year – and next year – for the stadium reconstruction.
Actress and 1995 Northwestern alumna Kathryn Hahn will deliver this year’s commencement address to the NU Class of 2024. Hahn will receive an honorary doctor of arts degree, one of four 2024 honorary degree recipients.
The ceremony will be livestreamed.
Shuttles to the United Center
The university is offering a shuttle service to and from the United Center, departing from a lot between Noyes and Haven streets (see above map) starting at 8 a.m. Sunday. The last shuttle will leave Evanston at 10 a.m. Evanston residents can expect traffic delays around the pick-up location through 10 a.m.
Return shuttle service will start immediately after the ceremony (at approximately 12:30 p.m.), and there will be three drop off points on the Evanston campus: Weber Arch, the Technological Institute and Patten Gym (see map below).
Graduation events in Evanston
Though commencement is taking place in Chicago, graduation activities will be happening later Sunday in Evanston, beginning with the 4 p.m. baccalaureate ceremony at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall on campus.
At 6 p.m., a “March Back Through the Arch” for the departing undergraduates begins on Deering Meadow, followed by a picnic dinner from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the Lakefill.
The celebration concludes with fireworks honoring the Class of 2024 at 8:45 p.m. over Lake Michigan at the Lakefill, a new addition to the commencement event lineup this year.
“While always a treasured event for the Northwestern community, this 166th Commencement holds special meaning for many in the Class of 2024, whose in-person high school graduations were canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Vice President for Student Affairs Susan M. Davis and Provost Kathleen Hagerty wrote in an email to the community.
Anticipating potential protests against the war in Gaza, which have interrupted commencement proceedings at many other colleges and universities across the country this spring, Davis and Hagerty said Northwestern “has designated a free speech area” outside the United Center for any such demonstrations, and they warned graduating students that commencement is “not the time nor place for disruptive demonstrations.”
“All students, including those graduating, remain subject to the Student Code of Conduct,” they wrote. “Violations of the Code of Conduct will result in disciplinary sanctions up to and including expulsion. Degrees will be held pending the outcome of disciplinary proceedings.”
NU to run commencement shuttles to Chicago Sunday morning is from Evanston RoundTable, Evanston's most trusted source for unbiased, in-depth journalism.